Balshan Griffin MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Griffin
Abilities	Flying
Released	2001-10-01
Set symbol
Set name	Odyssey
Set code	ODY
Power	3
Toughness	2
Number	67
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Wayne England

Key Takeaways

Balshan Griffin’s entry effect offers repeated use of blue creature abilities, enhancing deck synergy.
Its specific mana and discard requirements pose deck-building challenges, affecting its versatility.
Griffin’s flying and morph abilities make it a flexible threat in certain combat-heavy metas.

Text of card

Flying o1o U, Discard a card from your hand: Return Balshan Griffin to its owner's hand.

It helps to have an extra direction in which to run.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Balshan Griffin provides a solid play by allowing you to return a blue creature you control to its owner’s hand when it enters the battlefield. It can be your own Griffin, netting another use from its powerful entry effect.

Resource Acceleration: The Griffin can essentially act as a reset button for your creatures with potent come-into-play abilities, giving you the chance to re-trigger them and maximize your resources.

Instant Speed: Although the Balshan Griffin itself doesn’t have instant speed, its ability to return creatures can be used in synergy with instants or flash creatures that you may play, readying your board for surprise defensive plays or leveraging your position before your next turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks is that Balshan Griffin demands a card to be discarded to utilize its ability. This can lead to a precarious situation, especially if your hand is already short on cards, forcing you to make tough decisions about resource management.

Specific Mana Cost: Catering to a niche mana requirement, this card specifically needs both blue and generic mana. This requirement can hamper its inclusion in multicolored decks that may struggle with mana consistency or those that aim to maintain a lean mana curve.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the Griffin brings certain abilities to the table, its casting cost is on the higher side. There are alternative creatures within the same mana range offering potentially greater impact or lower-cost cards that present a quicker presence on the battlefield.

Reasons to Include Balshan Griffin in Your Collection

Versatility: Balshan Griffin offers an adaptable presence on the battlefield, capable of fitting into decks that value evasive creatures. Its flying ability allows it to soar over ground-based defenses, making it a consistent source of damage or an effective blocker against other flying threats.

Combo Potential: With magic card effects that key off of flying creatures or those that manipulate counters, Balshan Griffin can be an integral part of an intricate combo chain. Its morph ability further adds an element of surprise and strategy, offering a potential mid-game twist to seize the advantage.

Meta-Relevance: Against decks that struggle to deal with flying creatures, Balshan Griffin shines. Its relevance ticks up in metas where combat-focused creatures predominate and flying provides a significant tactical edge. Furthermore, its morph cost can play well in environments where keeping mana open for responses is crucial.

How to Beat

Balshan Griffin is a creature card that can be a quirky challenge to handle in Magic: The Gathering. With the ability to fly and become unblockable under certain conditions, it requires a tactical approach to counter effectively. Key strategies involve removal spells that can target creatures regardless of their flying status, such as Murder or Doom Blade, ensuring that the Griffin’s special abilities are rendered obsolete.

It’s also wise to consider the benefits of board wipes like Wrath of God or Damnation, which can clear multiple threats, including the Griffin, at once. Additionally, using instant-speed interaction allows you to deal with the creature before it can capitalize on its evasion abilities. Cards like Path to Exile provide efficient, low-cost solutions against such threats.

Managing your own board and retaining a powerful presence can dissuade an opponent from attacking with Balshan Griffin to begin with. The use of creatures with reach or those that can be flashed in, such as Ambush Viper, can provide a formidable defense. In the end, understanding and anticipating the conditions that make Balshan Griffin unblockable is crucial to keeping your opponent’s strategy at bay.

Cards like Balshan Griffin

Balshan Griffin stands as a unique piece in creature dynamics within Magic: The Gathering. It’s in line with creatures such as Mist Raven, which also carries the ability to bounce other creatures to their owner’s hand. Yet, Balshan Griffin carries an edge with its bevy of conditions – including the need to exile a blue card from your graveyard to grant it flying until end of turn. Mist Raven doesn’t require any such conditions but acts only once upon entering the battlefield.

Moving along, we find Aven Fogbringer, sharing the bouncing theme with a more focused approach, targeting only lands and thus restricting its versatility. However, Aven Fogbringer’s effect is guaranteed on its landing without additional costs. On the grander scale of utility, Galepowder Mage offers a similar ability but instead of bouncing upon entering the battlefield, it bounces another creature when it attacks. This can be used repeatedly and provides more strategic value over the course of a game.

Conclusively, while evaluating creatures with bounce capabilities, Balshan Griffin’s potential for return playability and conditional flying make it a noteworthy choice within Magic: The Gathering, especially for decks that can consistently fulfill its blue card exile condition.

Cards similar to Balshan Griffin by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Balshan Griffin MTG card by a specific set like Odyssey, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Balshan Griffin and other MTG cards: